Barrowburn Tea Room
This is an invigorating, half day family hill walk, with stunning views ending at a farm tea room.
Grade: Strenuous
Length: 5 miles (8.2 km)
Points of interest
Barrowburn
Wedder Leap, a long deep pool in the River Coquet has a folktale associated with it... told by David Dippie Dixon (born 1842), a local archaeologist, historian, and naturalist. In his book Tale from Upper Coquetdale (1903) “..the Wedder Loup...” story goes that during mosstrooping days, a ‘lifter’ one night carried off a nice plump ‘wedder’ from the flock grazing on a nearby hillside.
The daring sheep-stealer had not gone very far when the loss was discovered and the owner and his men gave chase, but handicapped by the wedder tied around his neck (hill fashion) the thief decided his only chance of escape was to to leap the chasm over the River Coquet near where the footbridge is today.
His feet touched the opposite bank, but the wedder around his neck proved a millstone and dragged him backwards into the murky depths of the pool below and never to be seen again!
Local facilities
Barrowburn Farm Tea Room & National Park Information Point
The family run Tea Room at Barrowburn Farm (with toilets for patrons only), is 450 metres west of Wedder Leap car park.
Nestling in the upper reaches of the Coquet Valley and surrounded by the rolling Cheviot Hills the Tea Room provides a place to take the weight off your feet, listen to the stream running past the front door whilst refreshing yourself with a home-made snack and a hot or cold drink.Why not treat the kids to a tub of local Doddington Ice Cream too!
Local information on the National Park and the surrounding area is available here too.
Accommodation is also available for 17 in Barrowburn Camping Barn, a former school built in 1879. The Deer Hut alongside, originally the headmasters house and then a base for deer stalking parties, today provides self catering accommodation for up to four people. To book: www.barrowburn.com.
Download the Barrowburn Tea Room walk guide (PDF 840kb)
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